A Warrior's Heart (Shields) (7 page)

Once her old gown and underclothes were off, she dipped her toe into the water.
 
A sigh escaped her as chills raced across her skin and the steam from the water molded her hair to her face.

She slipped into the water, surprised to find how deep the tub was.
 
She leaned back against the sides as the heat flowed over her, enveloping her in a cocoon of warmth and relaxation.

How long she sat in the water she had no idea.
 
She must have dozed because when she opened her eyes she felt disoriented for a moment.
 
The water had begun to chill so she hurriedly washed her hair and body, then hopped out of the tub to dry off and put back on her clothes.

It was one of the many times she wished she had another gown, but it was easier to move around without lugging a bag around with clothes.
 
At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

She leaned forward and flipped her hair over to wring out the water as best she could.
 
Then, she wrapped the cloth around her as she reached for her gown.
 
Except it wasn’t there.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Mina said as she walked into the chamber.
 
“I had your gown taken to be washed.
 
Elle is more your size, so she loaned you one of her gowns until yours is clean.”

Jayna swallowed.
 
“Thank you.
 
That is too kind.”

Mina waved away her words.
 
“Nonsense.
 
Let me know if you need anything else.”

She could only stare at the gown in her hand.
 
It was exquisite.
 
Not quite blue, but not quite green.
 
It wasn’t just the gown that Mina had given her, but undergarments as well.

With her hair still hanging wet and tangled about her, Jayna hurried to put on the clean clothes.
 
She smoothed her hand over the soft material of the gown.
 
The wide, trailing sleeves, and deep hem held a floral pattern that matched the color of the gown.
 
And once she wrapped the braided belt twice around her waist, then let its length land nearly to her feet, she felt like a queen.

How long had it been since she had dressed as a lady?
 
How long had it been since she had acted like a person of her station should?
 
The years had passed by in a blur because she had been focused on one thing...Gabriel.
 

Just for a moment, one instant in time, she wanted to forget the past and the revenge that ruled her world.
 
She wanted to forget the Great Evil.
 
She just wanted to be Lady Jayna, a woman who searched for her future.

She sighed and slowly walked from the chamber.
 
It was her own chamber that she sought, for there she could sit before the fire and comb out her hair as she tried to forget the past.

Chapter Seven

Gabriel barely had time to wash up and change before supper.
 
The food was more than delicious at Stone Crest, but sitting at the long table with the men he called brothers and their wives was becoming harder and harder.
 
It just drove home how alone he was in the world.

As he hurriedly descended the steps he recalled that Hugh had asked to speak to him before the evening meal.
 
Time had gotten away from Gabriel as he checked the armory.
 
Whatever it was, he knew Hugh would speak to him later.

It wasn’t until he started toward the dais that he noticed a woman in the chair beside his.
 
For an instant, he was sure he recognized the woman.
 
He slowed his steps and studied her face.
 
It was the face of an angel, one so beautiful and graceful that it couldn’t possibly be real.
 

Her golden blonde hair was parted down the middle and hung over her breasts in two thick plaits.
 
As he made his way toward the dais, he saw the welcoming smile she bestowed upon anyone that passed near her.
 
Her lips were full and her mouth wide, erotic lips that he suddenly yearned to feel on his skin.

Gabriel stopped and tried to swallow.
 
He couldn’t get closer to her yet, not when he hadn’t had his fill of looking at her.
 
He needed to see more of her creamy skin, unmarked by a blemish.
 
He needed to see her gently arching brows lift gracefully at something Val said.
 
He needed to see her striking hazel eyes crinkle at the corners as she laughed.

He
knew
her.

“Gabriel?”

He jerked and turned his head to find Hugh at his elbow.

“Is everything all right?”

Gabriel nodded, unable to find his voice, and angry at Hugh for breaking into his examination of the woman.

“She is quite beautiful isn’t she?” Hugh asked softly.

Gabriel made himself turn his back to the dais as he looked to Hugh.
 
“Who is she?”

“First, tell me why you were staring at her as if you know her?”

“Because I think I do.”

“What?” Hugh asked, bewilderment widening his eyes.
 
“How?”

Gabriel sighed and ran a hand down his face.
 
“I don’t know.
 
It’s just when I first saw her...I felt as if I knew her.”

“Could she have been someone you bedded?”

Gabriel flattened his lips as he shook his head.
 
“I may bed my fair share of women, but I do remember their faces.
 
She’s not one of them.”

“You haven’t been at Stone Crest long enough to have forgotten her, and if I take her at her word, she just arrived her today.”

“Maybe she simply looks like someone from my past,” Gabriel finally admitted.

Hugh clamped a hand on his shoulder.
 
“Has any more come to you?”

He shook his head, unwilling and unable to speak more of a past he feared more than death itself.
 
“Mina waits for you.
 
Come, we must eat.”

“Her name is Jayna,” Hugh said before he could walk away.
 
“Mina welcomed her, but with everything going on, wanted to make sure that Jayna wasn’t part of the evil.”

“I’m sure you spoke with her.
 
What did you discern?”

“Nothing.”
 
Hugh sighed.
 
“She claims to be a commoner, but I don’t think she is.”

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at her.
 
“Just look at the way she sits and you can tell she isn’t.
 
Nay, she’s no more common than I am royalty.”

“She also claims to be a traveler.
 
She ran away from a drunk, abusive uncle some years ago and been on her own ever since.”

“What do you think of that?”

“I think she’s partly telling the truth, but I think there’s more to it.”

“You want me to keep a close eye on her?”

“Aye,” Hugh said with a half smile.
 
“We all are, but if I ask one of the others to keep close to her, there just might be some jealous wives.”

Gabriel chuckled.
 
“Nay, I’ll do it.”

“You’re a good man,” Hugh said as he walked to the dais.

Gabriel found it quite easy to make his way to a table that he wanted to avoid most days.
 
It was odd to find that he was looking forward to a bit of a mystery to solve.
 
There was definitely something about Jayna that sparked his interest.

If it was somehow related to his thinking he knew her, or the fact her story had huge flaws in it, he didn’t know.
 
But he most certainly was going to find out.

* * * *

Jayna struggled to keep the smile on her face as Gabriel walked toward her.
 
It had been an unexpected surprise to find that she would be seated next to him.
 
She fingered the dagger up her sleeve, the one she would use to end it all.

She waited for him to recognize her, to call her a fraud and make her attack.
 
She slid the dagger out so the pommel fit into her hand.
 
Her legs were poised to jump up and strike as soon as he opened his mouth.

“You must be Jayna,” Gabriel said with a polite nod as he took his seat beside her.

Jayna could only stare.
 
She couldn’t believe he didn’t recognize her.
 
Or maybe he did and he was biding his time, much like she was doing.

Being this close to him made her remember the Gabriel she’d once known, the Gabriel that she had given her heart to.
 
The Gabriel that had smiled and charmed and wooed her like no other.

“Are Mina and the others taking good care of you?”
 

She blinked at his conversational tone.
 
His deep voice had always made her heart skip a beat, and to her horror, it was doing so again.
 
How could someone she hate so much still affect her in such a manner?
 
It didn’t seem fair.

“Aye,” she finally answered.
 
“Lady Mina has been an exceptional host.”

“Mina is one of the finest ladies around.
 
So are Elle, Shannon, and Nicole. Hugh tells me that you might be staying for a few days due to the storm.”

She nodded and glanced at him before turning her attention to putting the dagger back up her sleeve without him noticing.
 
“Lord Hugh assures me that the storm will be fierce and that neither he, nor Lady Mina, could, in good conscience, let me leave.”

“I agree with them,” he said and turned so that he half faced her.
 
“Tell me, how have you survived on your own?
 
I find it extremely difficult to comprehend.”

Jayna inwardly grimaced.
 
She had to say just the right thing without revealing herself, all the while trying to determine if Gabriel was playing her.
 
“Fate has been kind to me, in a way.
 
Women aren’t safe to travel alone, which is why I learned to use a bow and arrow as well as a dagger very effectively.”

“Impressive.
 
Where are your weapons now?”

She turned toward him and let her eyes roam over his handsome face.
 
“My dagger is never far.
 
However, I’ve also learned from past experience that whenever I come across a village or castle, they don’t like seeing a woman with a bow and arrow.”

He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
 
“Ah, you hide it before entering a castle or village.”

“Precisely.”

“And you aren’t afraid of someone stealing it?”

“If they find it, let them keep it since they’ve earned it.
 
Yet, I doubt anyone will find them.”

“That good, are you?” he asked with a quirk of his lips.

“Aye.”

He chuckled then.
 
“You’ve spirit, Jayna.
 
I’m surprised that fire within you hasn’t found you a husband.”

“Who says I want a husband, my lord?”

He waved away her words.
 
“No ‘my lords’ for me.
 
My name is Gabriel.”

She nodded her head as she studied his eyes.
 
Gabriel always spoke through his eyes, his expressions there for all the world to see.
 
If someone was looking.

And she was.

“How long have you lived at Stone Crest?”

He shrugged and drank from his goblet.
 
“Not long.
 
Only a week or so.
 
The time before that I was here for a few weeks.”

“I thought you lived here?”

“Nay.
 
I also travel.”

She smiled and found his eyes drawn to her lips.
 
Suddenly a thought took root.
 
If he really didn’t remember her, she could become close to him by seducing him.
 
Women had done it down through the ages.
 
It was the oldest trick in the book, and a proven one at that.

“Ah, someone who understands my need to see new things,” she said softly.

“Hmm.
 
The difference is, I don’t go because I want to, I go because I must.”

“So you don’t get to choose where you venture to next?”

He shook his head.
 
“I go where I am told.”

It was difficult to comprehend that Gabriel would take orders from anyone, let alone a lowly lord such as Hugh.
 
“How did you come to be in Hugh’s service?”